Thursday, 2 February 2017

Mosul hotel catered to elites: from Saddam allies to suicide bombers

Mosul hotel catered to elites: from Saddam allies to suicide bombers

February 02, 2017

MOSUL (Reuters) - When Islamic State seized the five-star Ninewah
Oberoi Hotel in east Mosul it replaced wealthy Iraqi patrons with
another kind of elite -- foreign fighters and suicide bombers seen as
the group's most prized members.
The Iraqi army's recent capture of the ruined compound - renamed
Hotel Waritheen (Inheritors) by Islamic State - deprived the militants
of a strategic site that offers a comprehensive view across the vast
city.
Yet the 11-story building fringed with palm trees is a reminder of
the many dangers and uncertainties ahead as Iraqi forces prepare to
expand their offensive against Islamic State into west Mosul, a far more
complex battleground.
The compound, with its abandoned playground and ferris wheel, lies
within striking distance of Islamic State snipers and mortar bomb
operators, dug in just across the Tigris River, which once soothed hotel
guests standing on balconies.
That uncomfortable reality is not lost on Iraqi soldiers, who venture
into hotel rooms on high floors to spot enemy positions in the west
just across the waterway, which bisects Mosul.
Curtains are peppered with bullet holes, the work of Islamic State
marksmen. Iraqi security officials say the most lethal ones are foreign
fighters, the kind that were put up in the hotel as a reward for their
services.
The original 265-room hotel, built in the 1980s, catered to the
powerful during Saddam Hussein's rule, including military officers,
government officials and businessmen rewarded for their loyalty to his
Baath Party.
One of Saddam's former palaces, located on an island on the Tigris,
was demolished in recent fighting. Another one nearby suffered a similar
fate.
MILITANT MENU
Islamic State grabbed the hotel after it swept into Mosul in 2014,
facing virtually no resistance from Iraqi troops, and imposed a reign of
terror.
A jihadi website showed militants with their wives, covered from head
to toe in black, and children at the hotel, once described on the
internet as "elegantly designed to offer comprehensive 5 star services".
Alcohol was banned but pain killers and syringes used by jihadist fighters before and after battle remain.
Old photographs on internet advertisements show elegant suites with
king-sized beds, conference rooms, a sprawling swimming pool, shopping
arcade and bowling alley, in sharp contrast to the current destruction.
A rocket-propelled grenade and broken glass clutter the entrance to the health club, where the sauna and jacuzzi lie in ruins.
One soldier, who asked not to be named, studied shredded furniture
and chairs piled on top of each other on lower floors, seeking clues on
how Islamic State operated in the hotel.
"Conferences were held on that floor. The Daesh leadership must have
held meetings there to discuss strategy," he said, using the derogatory
acronym favored by opponents to describe Islamic State.
Islamic State had its own price list for the hotel restaurant and
coffee shop displayed on simple plastic menus. Cappuccino sold for the
equivalent of about $1.
Beds were missing from the hotel rooms. Iraqi soldiers said militants
sold them in the market as their self-proclaimed caliphate began
collapsing under the pressure of the offensive, backed by U.S.-led
coalition airstrikes.
Islamic State leaders, for their part, did their best to keep up
morale, judging by a copy of their local propaganda newspaper left
behind at the hotel. Front page headlines claim operations killed
hundreds of Iraqi troops.
Another highlighted the attack on an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Eve.
There are no signs the hotel will be revived anytime soon, with fierce fighting expected in west Mosul.
Even if Islamic State is defeated in all of Mosul, the group is
expected to stage an insurgency in Iraq, a country that has suffered
from dictatorships, wars and sectarian violence that have ruined many
ventures like the hotel.
The latest occupants, Iraqi soldiers, seem to have written it off as a
lost cause, leaving styrofoam plates of rotting meat and rice on the
floors of decimated rooms for weeks. In some areas, there were human
feces.
Soldiers have a far more pressing issue to worry about - the
militants watching them from just across the Tigris - with mortar
attacks and gunfire keeping eastern Mosul on edge.
The only people wearing hotel slippers these days are Iraqi forces clutching assault rifles.